The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 1

FEB 1 UK 288991 Ar DAjTILY THE WEATHER BylLt. wwtktt taw DfCUAUNQ CLOUDINBM, FOLLOWID SNOW. ILOWLT BU0 noirnuTimi CENTS SOU OR 95th YEAR No. 39 nmsUCD AT TBI BROOKLYN POST-OPFIC1 AS ID CLASS MAIL MATTER NEW YORK CITY, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1936 6 SECTIONS 74 PAGES tiA I CENTS lllCDm IM HI YORK OITT (J ILMWttCBI Tb Brnklrm Dailj EfW Charles Curtis Dies at Capital Ex-Cop Is Suspect In Reopened Probe Of 'Connor Slaying DRUKMAN CASE TESTIMONY WILL OPEN TOMORROW FARM INFLATION DEFEAT SHOWN BY HOUSE POLL Reported Hired as Investigator by Prosecutor in OxnIy 94 Democrats Co Frances Williams Sued for Annulment Effort to Trap Him-Called Attention to Self by Volunteering Special to Th Eaglt Mineola, Feb. 8 A man described as a former New York Pan-American Peace Is Seen AsF.D.R.Aim 'Good Neighbor' Policy Reported Behind Plan for Washington Talk Washington, Feb.

8 (Jf) The prospect of an early call by President Roosevelt for an all-American conference designed to promote the peace of the new world today was widely reported in the capital Government officials were noncommittal, but their refusal either to deny or confirm the reports strengthened the belief of some well Informed observers that formal invitations to such a parley soon would be Issued by the White House. A denial usually is quickly forthcoming when such reports are incorrect. No Latin American diplomat would discuss the subject publicly, but In private some gave the impression that they would not be surprised to receive such an invitation City policeman was under observation here tonight as a possible suspect In the assault and murder of Mary Helen O'Connor, 16-year-old Far Rockaway schoolgirl, It was re- ported by sources close to Dis- 1 DEAD AT 76 77' J. It Mr Charles Cart is Britain Would Swap A $335,000,000 Loan For French Business Paris, Feb. 8 OR An authoritative source disclosed tonight that Great Britain was demanding trade concessions from France before floating a loan tor the French Govern ment which may be as large as 5,000,000,000 francs $335,000,000.

Marcel Regnler, Minister of Fi nance, told the finance committee of the Chamber of Deputies of this development when he informed the legislators that the French treasury needs 17,000,000,000 francs 000,000 in 1936. He told them that he had how ever denied a British request for re payment of the loan according to the present gold equivalent and that he also had resisted a request that France grant a preferential tariff on British coal. Judge Permits Jurors to Leave Their Hotel and Attend a. Movie-Interest Centers on Evidence of Bribery The long-delayed trial of the Drukman murder case will get down to facts tomorrow. Special Prosecutor Hiram C.

Todd, appointed by Governor Lehman to get to the bottom of the killing and the charges of bribery which grew out of it, was ready last night to present his case to the jury and two alternates who are under careful guard In the Towers Hotel. The jurors last nigh, gratefully laid aside their pinochle and rummy cards to take In a movie. Securely guarded by six court officers, the reputable businessmen who made up the Jury beamed with relief as they left their hotel prison. Under court orders they are being guarded as zealously as rare orchids. The first 24 hours under lock and key passed slowly and monotonously for the jurors until the question of going to a movie arose.

Allowed Morie Supreme Court Justice Ersklne C. Rogers, presiding over the trial, had told them Friday that they might be taken to a movie last night But he had directed the picture must have nothing to do with crime and must be In the neighborhood. The jurors problem was to find one which fitted Into the orders and yet had not been seen by any of them. This proved impossible, so "Celling Zero," a story of good wholesome adventure in the air which some of the Jurors had already seen, was chosen. They were bundled into five taxlcabs and taken to the Paramount Theater, where 30 seats had been roped off in the loges.

Pinochle, rummy, Bridge, monopoly and old-time country store stove debates occupied most of the jurors time yesterday. The usual spirit was reported lacking at the game tables because of artyislon which makes gambling taboo. Bed time has been set at 11 p.m. Con tin aN an Page II Youngsters Sit Through a Fire Enjoying The picture "Red Salute" had some 300 youngsters hooting and howling In the darkened Rivoli Theater, 1374 Myrtle yesterday afternoon when a curtain caught fire. The youngsters kept up their laughing but 600 chaperons, considerably older, jumped out of their seats.

About 400 of them left the entertainment house, pulling unwilling children after them. Maurice Bliss manager, believes that the fire started when some careless patron tossed away a lighted cigarette butt. A drape down near the orchestra pit was ruined but there was little other damage done. D. A.

Aides Celebrate 25 Years of Service Completion of 25 years of service Jn the District Attorney's office was yesterday celebrated by Ralph H. Van Ness, chief clerk of the grand Jury, and Harry J. F. Davey, Assistant District Attorney. Both are 46 and both started as' process servers under District Attorney Cropsey.

All told, they have served under eight different District Attorney, including William P. X. Oeoghan. In Today's Eagle OfHeartAttack Former Vice President, 76, Stricken as He Planned Landon Drive Washington, Feb. 8 JP) Charles Curtis, former Vice President, who left an Indian tepee to scale the heights of American public office, died unexpectedly of a heart attack today at the age of 76.

For 40 years he had been in the thick of Republican political combat and, despite his age, death came Just, as he was planning a return to the arena as champion of his old friend and fellow Kansan, Gov, Alf M. Landon, for the Presidency. His passing shocked the capital, Expression? of regret from those now high in the Government quick' ly attested a popularity which took no account of the party lines, by which his own political career was rigidly governed. President Roose velt said he was "deeply distressed." Faneral Tacadsy Senator Capper, also of Kansas, one of the first to call at the home which Curtis shared with his half- sister, Mrs. Dolly Gann, announced the funeral would take place Tues day at Topeka.

The body, he said, would leave Washington tomorrow night. For several days Curtis had been suffering from a cold. This morn Ing he seemed much Improved, and, encouraged, Mrs. Gann went shop ping. Sometime afterward Curtis suffered a heart attack.

A frightened maid phoned Mrs. Gann to return at once and called Dr. George E. Carver, Congressional physician. Both rushed to the shrubbery- surrounded house in Cleveland Park but the former Vice President was dead before either arrived.

Dr. Cat' ver returned to the capital, called newspapermen and handed them brief statement: Did Not Softer "The Honorable Charles Curtis, former Vice President of the United States of America, died of a heart attack at 10:25 this date." Meanwhile in the living room of the home, Mrs. Gann walked back and forth until immediate members of the family had been notified. Re peatedly, she expressed regret that she had been unable to reach the home a few minutes earlier. "He died easily," aha said.

"I'm to glad be didn't suffer." Then ana re urea to ner room weeping. The death of the former 'Vice President Curtis left only one llv ing former Vice President, Charles Gates Dawes of Illinois. Mourned by Kaws Topeka, Feb. 8 (P Kansas awaited sadly tonight the final re turn of Charley Curtis to the banks of the Kaw his birthplace and al wavs his homing spot during the long years of his rise from reserva tion Indian to the Vice Presidency of the United States. There was mourning, too, on the banks of the Arkansas River in northern Oklahoma, where live the few survivors of his Indian kinsmen, the Kaws, and on the Potomac among tne many mends he gath ered in 40 years of publlo service, Sunday night the body of the former Vice President will start Its Journey Westward from Washings ton.

On one of his last visits here, he told neighbors he planned to spend tne remainder of his life In Topeka after retiring from law practice In Washington. Congressman Urges Lottery to Pay Bonus Washington, Feb. 8 (flV-Repre. sentative Kennedy urged the establishment of a national lottery tonight to care for relief, pay the bonus and balance the budget. He said over the radio that his measure now before the House Ways and Means Committee provides for the establishment of a Federally op erated lottery would care for these additional needs.

The measure pro vides for a lottery or lotteries de signed to produce $1,000,000,000 year. Dutra's Wife Sues; Golf Widow, She Says Detroit, Feb. 8 VP) Mortie Dutra, one of the country's leading profes sional golfers, was sued for divorce here today by Mrs. Louenetta Dutra who charged her husband with making her a "Winter golf widow1 by refusing to take her on his Southern tournament tour last year, The bill of complaint also charges Dutra with an uncontrollable tern per. The Dutras were married in 1923 and separated last November, They have twin sons, born in io, 2 File Petitions In Bankruptcy Describing himself as "a foreman of mibllc works now Lawrence P.

Smith of New Rochelle, filed a bankruptcy petition In the Manhattan Federal Court yesteraay, He said he owed $416,497 and had no assets. In the same court William C. Du rant of 1016 5th Ave, Manhattan, president of the Pomeroy Day Land Company, filed a in which he said his liabilities were $914,231 and his assets $250 worth of wear ing apparel which exempt. BACKED FOR ABC Thomae P. Cummings Back Cummings For Liquor Job Boro's Former Police Head Strongly Support ed for ABC Head Post By MURRAY SNYDER Thomas P.

Cummings, former Dep uty Chief Inspector in command of Brooklyn uniformed police, is be ing backed strongly here and in Al bany for the chairmanship of the State Alcoholic' Beverage Control Board, The Eagle was Informed last night. The $12,000 post, good for five years, is vacant as a result of Gov ernnr Lehman's appointment of Its former occupant, Edward P. Mul rooney, as Commissioner of Correc tion last Wednesday. Cummings, who is 51 and lives at 3,581 Bedford was reported to have received the Indorsement of Frank V. Kelly, Brooklyn Democrat' lc leader, for the appointment.

Cummings made one of the finest records in the recent history of the New York City Police Department between his start in police work In 1905 and his retirement in August, 1934. During the last two years he has served as legislative representative of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Asso elation in Albany. There Is a singular parallel be tween his current boom for the liquor board chairmanship and an episode which occurred at the time of Mulrooney's retirement as New York City Police Commissioner in 1933 to take over administration of the new alcoholic beverage laws Continued on Page 3 Ex-Heir to Throne Of Spain Is Better After Transfusion Havana, Feb. 8 UP) The 28-year- old Count of Covadonga, strength' ened by Injections of the blood of commoners, appeared tonight to be recovering from a near-fatal attack of hemophilia. Physicians reported that the count, who renounced his rights tb the Spanish throne to wed a Cuban commoner, was resting easily after a good sleep.

Blood injections were continued during the day. These Injections and a transfusion from two Cuban women and a Cuban man, they said, saved the life of the former Crown Prince. His condition Is still serious but the doctors predicted a "happy out come. Army Pilot May Soon Be Rocked in Cradle Designed for Planes Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 8 UP) The Army, borrowing an idea from the dare-devil's polo automobile, hopes soon to take the Jar out of airplane nose-overs thus saving the necks of its pilots.

A board of officers, who sat In the cockpit of an old pursuit plane's fuselage while a crane flipped It onto its back, has submitted its report and recommendations to Washington, officers at Wright Field said tonight. A cradle, resembling the high-curved runners of a sleigh, was attached to the nose permitting the fuselage to be turned over without damage to the front sector. A rigid skid brace over the cockpit, lined with several inches of sponge rubber, eased the shock when the plane was turned over and crashed onto Its back. on Record for Bill- Rise in Income Taxes May Lower Levies in Roosevelt's Program Washington, Feb. 8 President Roosevelt and hii fiscal advisers today can vassed the background for arf Administration tax bill at closed-door conference whlcbj coincided with the reported collapse of one wing of thp congressional inflation driven After a poll ot the House, Rep resentatlvo Boland, the Democrats whip, reported that only 94 t)M 317 House Democrats had ilgnifM themselves definitely in favor of fh $3,000,000,000 FrazJer-Lemke bllL designed to refinance farm debt with new currency.

Both Betend and Speaker Byrne asserted tha measure would bo slaughtered came to a vote. AwaHa Income Tax Data A late afternoon White HbuM conference, a tended by Secretary! Morgenthau and Daniel Bell, tte acting budget director, revived pre vlous reports that the Roosevelt U4 plan might be sent to the Capitol next week. Neither the Treasury chief nor Bell would comment. It was learned authoritatively later, however, that tne session was devoted primarily U) a review of the Government's finan cial situation, and a further check up on possible future spending, it is against this background that the tax plan will be painted. The fact that there was little talk today of actual tax details was taken a a further indication that at least tba Continued on Page 11 Liners Abolish AU First Class North Atlantic Ships to Meet Price Challenge of S.

S. Queen Mary, Parts, Feb. 8 CP) A rata war fay the North Atlantic passenger biuW ness was averted today by makmf the cabin class top on all linen first was abolished. Members of the North Atlantis Pasenger Conference Indicated rate on luxury liners will be lowered slightly and those of smaller ships, heretofore in the cabin category, raised. This general readjustment waa precipitated by announcement of the huge new British ship Queen Mary as a 'cabin liner a designs tion which permitted rates lower than first class.

Fear of a general breakup of tha conference as a result of the Cun ard-White Star Line's resignation- it owns the Queen Mary and a disastrous price cutting led to tha agreement after a feverish three-day session. Cunard-White Star withdrew Its resignation Rate changes, effective Feb. 34, will be announced by the individual companies. A spokesman said tha changes would be slight, mostly upward and tending to narrow the difference between the present first class and cabin accommodations. Reports that the action was aimed at the big business of the cabla liners Manhattan and George Wash' ington of the United States Lin brought a statement from the con ference that the rates of those vessels would be little changed.

Tourist and third-class ratea win be unchanged on all lines. Among luxury liners affected art the Queen Mary, not yet in operation; the Normandie of the French Line and the Europa and Bremen of the Hamburg-American Line-North German Lloyd. The Italian line, which opera tea the Rex, is not a member of tha conference. HERE'S A GOOD STEER. And a swell break.

You outo see oil the used car bargains being advertised in the Wont Ad section. Turn to the Automobile classification NOW, MAin 4-6000-FOR RESULTS! INEXPENSIVE GRATIFYING! trict Attorney Martin W. Littleton. Efforts also were being made to link the man with the killing of Fred Hart, owner of an alleged speakeasy in Rockaway Beach, In December, 1932. Mary O'Connor disappeared Jan.

27, 1933, and during the following February her body was found in a wood near Massapequa. The man under surveillance was on the police force at that time, but has resigned or retired since. It was said he Is believed to be mentally unbalanced. Hired by Prosecutor According to reports, the man directed suspicion to himself by volunteering within the past month to solve the O'Connor mystery and to produce articles of clothing which the girl had with her when she was killed. Mr.

Littleton, it was reported, hired the ex-pollceman as an investigator, and In turn had two men watch the volunteer detective's movements. In the meantime the man's record was Investigated. The ex-policeman's wife was said to have told Mr. Littleton that on the night the O'Connor girl disappeared her husband walked the beach near his home until daybreak. She said she found a blood stained blanket In his automobile, and when she asked him about it, was told it was "none of her business." 4 Convicts Seized; 6 Still at Large Beattyville, Ky, Feb.

8 Four of the ten convicts who escaped from Frankfort State Reformatory in two days were captured at a farm bouse near here today by Lee County officer. The four captured escaped yesterday by threatening and bluffing their way past prison guards. Six others who escaped In a prison truck today were still at large tonight. Snow and Dust Mix In Kansas Blizzard Dodge City, Feb. 8 OP) Coca-colored snow lay on the ground here today after the worst "black blizzard" since last Summer.

Dust swirled over southwestern Kansas last night, whipped by a 45 mile wind, and then there was a light fall Ot dust-laden snow. Traffic was paralyzed at Hugoton by the dust storm. 400 Are Stormbound Overnight at School Great Bend, Feb. 8 W) Four hundred persons attending the dedication of a school auditorium at Radium, 20 miles southwest of here, were stormbound by a blizzard last night. They danced and played cards until daybreak and then ventured out to return to their homes.

The temperature was 14 below zero. Convicted of Killing Wife He Kidnaped Twin Falls, Idaho, Feb. 8 HV-Douglas Van Vlack, who kidnaped his former wife, Mildred Hook, In Tacoma, and allegedly shot her to death In an Idaho roadside ditch, today was convicted of her death and sentenced to die. Van Vlack is accused of slaying two officers who sought to halt him and rescue the young woman. Six Hurt as Train Hits Bus in Jersey Park Ridge, U.

Feb. 8 (IP) A lomotive on the New York-New Jersey branch of the Erie Railroad struck a bus bound for Sprln Valley, N. at a crossing near the Mont vale Station today. Six persons, all bus passengers, were Injured. Witnesses said the locomotive hit the rear of the bus and dragged It 100 feet, Slays Wife Who Won His Release From Jail Ex-Convict Then Kills Self After Dispute Over Money She Spent in His Fight for Freedom-Daughter Sees Crime While their horrified 12-year-old daughter fought to get out of the room, Joseph Stankovlch, 40, paroled convict, yesterday murdered his wife, Mary, 40, through whose efforts he was released from Welfare Island less than a month ago.

at any time. World Peace Considered Both President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull were represented as eager to solidify the Administration's "good neighbor" policy between the two America's and as believing that the time now is ripe for essaying concrete accomplishments toward this end. Such a conference, some in diplomatic circles argued, might serve not only to cement good relations in the Americas, but might also have a salutary efrect toward world peace. In recent days, the representatives of a number of central and South American governments have called at the State Department at the Invitation of Sumner Welles, Assist ant Secretary of State in charge of Latin-American affairs. It was presumed that the opinion of their governments was sought on the advisability of holding the conference, Snow Forecast For City Today Storm Sweeps to East- Bay Parley Is Called-Plain States Suffer Another snowfall, riding in on the wings of a blizzard from the West, was forecast for late today, follow, ing yesterday's brief respite.

A sudden shift In the wind from the West to southwest, at 3:20 yes terday afternoon, sent the mercury scurrying up to 34 degrees, the sec ond time the temperature had been above the freezing point In 15 days. The first was Feb. 4, when the tern perature reached 39. Yesterday's lowest temperature was 10 degrees at 5 a.m. Today's temperatures were forecast for somewhat warmer.

Moved by Ice conditions in the harbor, the Port of New York Au thorlty has announced a conference of Mayors In the waterfront com munlties for Tuesday, to discuss an augmented Ice-breaking fleet for the vicinity of New York. River at Hastings, was reported frozen sufficiently hard to support an automobile. A special watch was maintained at Sing Sing to guard possible escapes across the ice. Rail and highway transportation were paralyzed In Chicago by the added two to six inches of snow piled on the two feet of snow al ready on the ground. Misery and suffering were re ported all over the plain States as the mercury dropped under zero as far south as Texas.

Hill City, D. Continued on Page 2 2 Burned As Fire Drives 25 From Grand St. Place Fire broke out In the office of a building at 995 and 997 Grand St. last evening and spread to the ad- Joining building, driving 10 persons from the ground floor restaurant and 15 persons from the rooming house above. Kostantz Smarzewskl, 68, of 48 Broome watchman in the Edel- steln Brick Company, which occupied the building, was seriously burned.

He vas taken to St. Catherine's Hospital with burns on face, hands and' body. Andrew Ripley, 33, of 302 Covert St, chauffeur, who was visiting the watchman, was treated for burns on the hands by Dr. Massie of Sta. Catherine's.

The neighboring restaurant at 999 Grant St. was owned by Samuel Falk. Strange Malady Ravages Village In South America Rio De Janeiro, Feb. 8 JP)k mysterious pestilence was reported today to be rampant in the village of Santa Rem, In Para Province. Government officials expressed the the fear that it may be taking lives by the score.

Unconfirmed reports to newspapers spoke of "hundreds of victims" and a confirmed dispatch said 18 sufferer died In one day. Chicago, Feb. 8 GW-Suit for an annulment of his marriage to Prances Williams, New York musical comedy star, was filed today by Robert Wachsman, Chicago theatrical producer. The bill alleged the couple's marriage at Larchmont, N. Nov.

5, 1935, was Illegal because Miss Williams' previous divorce from Miguel De Sousa was obtained fraudulently. Miss Williams' age was given as 33 and her true name as Frances Helllnack. She and De Sousa were divorced in Chicago Heights, suburb of Chicago, May 10, 1935. Wachsman charged the actress was not a resident of Chicago at the time and that the court did not have Jurisdiction. Drug Suspect On Bail Slain Isaac Klabin Falls Under Rain of Bullets-Police Probe Piaeon Cote Fatally wounded by a fusillade of bullets, a man Identified as Isaac Klabin of 510 Blake Ave.

and said by police to be known also as Mich ael Klabin, Mike Kllbane and Mike Costello, died at 6 p.m. yesterday In Gouverneur Hospital without re gaining consciousness. Klabin was shot dow.i in front of a garage at 135 Division Manhattan, on the roof of which he kept several cotes of pigeons. The snoot Ing occurred about 3:20 p.m. Police sought to learn whether the wounded man's pigeon raising activities had any connection with the shooting, because homing pige ons are sometimes used In the nar cotlc traffic.

They pointed out that Continued on Page 2 Harvard Waits Word From Hanfstaengl; His Gift O. K. Now Cambridge, Feb. 8 Harvard University, which refused in 1934 a $1,000 gift from Dr. Ernest S.

Hanfstaengl, aide of Chancellor Hitler of Germany, awaited today his reply to a form-ietter appeal for contributions sent him Inadvertently as one of 67,000 alumni. The university said It would not make public the expected letter unless Hanfstaengl specifically authorized Its release. The appeal was for contributions to a 300th anniversary fund planned to establish professorships and scholarships. Harvard's youthful president, James B. Conant, declined a Hanfstaengl gift to permit an American student to study at Munich because he said it came "from one who has been so closely associated with the leadership of a political party which has inflicted damage on the universities of Miss Van Alen Wed To Serge Mdivani; Was Wife of Alexis Palm Beach, Feb.

8 () Louise Van Alen of Newport and Palm Beach was married this noon to her second Mdivani prince. In the flower-bedecked Van Alen villa, with members of the family and friends watching, the 25-year-old society belle, divorced in 1932 from the late Prince Alexis Mdivani, became the bride of her erstwhile brother-in-law, Prince Serge Mdivani, 33. Thousands of carnations, mingled with ferns, filled the chamber in the home of Mrs. James Laureno Van Alen the bride's mother, where the couple said their vows. Thon hp lrlllpri himself.

Wielding a foot-long knife, Stankovlch stabbed his wife to death as she tried to leap from the window of their second floor apartment at 431 Rodney Williamsburg. Standing over her body he cut his own wrists and throat, and was dead before police arrived. The couple, acocrding to neighbors, had quarreled about a sum of money Stankovlch left with his wife when he was sent to Welfare Island a year and a half ago for violation of the Sullivan law. He was not satisfied with the wife's explanation that part of the money had been used to keep the family going while he was in Jail and the rest in employing a lawyer to obtain his release. Her Last Confession According to police, Mrs.

Stankovlch had Just returned from confession at the Church of the Annunciation, Havermeyer and N. 6th shortly after 6 pjn. Husband and wife quarreled bitterly. Enraged, Stankovlch locked the door of the parlor and put the key in his pocket. Then he drew the knife from his waist band and advanced upon Mrs.

Stankovlch, who tried to leap out of the window. He intercepted her and plunged the knife into her left breast. Girl Tries to Escape The daughter, Ida, locked In the room, tried to get through the door by breaking some panes of glass, but was unable to squeeze through. She turned and saw her father slash himself, then fall to the floor. From his pocket she retrieved the key, opened the door and rushed out, screaming for help.

Stankovlch, a war veteran and former Navy Yard employe, had been on home relief since his release from Jail. Neighbors said that Mrs. Stankovlch was very devoted and never missed a chance to visit him at Welfare Island. The couple had another child, Bertha, aged 8, but she was not home at the time of the tragedy, AKBMmtnti 1-10 Art an Mailt S-1S Angela Fmtrl A AaU Newt A Btokt 1 Brldrt 10 A Br ttat Way A CUitllieS AdnrtlMmentt Crouwori Paula 10 A Delta Notloet 11 A Dr. Braa It A Edltorlilt I financial 1-10 fraternal Ntvt IK From Nam's Notebook 11 A Helta an Warren A Helen Worth 11 A Lone blend Nm 1S-1 A Loit and Foandi FerionaU A NoTel I A Ptal BUllon 1 A Fet Fut 14 Qaeitloni and Aniwert 14 A Badlo 14-18 0 Seal Eitatt MI Beoorti and 11-13 School! IB Shin New OS Shopping With Sunn 0 A Society 1-0 Iporti 1-S.